Lily Allen

Inheriting a rebellious personality from her actor/comedian father Keith Allen and raised in an artistic household by her film producer mother Alison Owen, Lily Allen was expelled from various schools before dropping out at 15. She played a lady-in-waiting in one of her mother's movies, Elizabeth (1998) and after several abortive attempts to launch a music career she finally started attracting a major groundswell of support through demos on her MySpace page. In July, 2006 she released debut album Alright, Still, which included her first hit single Smile, taking revenge on an errant ex-boyfriend. Other hits swiftly followed, including Alfie - about her brother - and a cover of the Kaiser Chiefs' Oh My God, produced by Mark Ronson. She continued to court controversy with outspoken blog messages, presented a TV chat show, launched her own fashion line and overcame the heartbreak of a miscarriage to resume her successful recording career with the 2009 album It's Not Me, It's You. And in 2010 she won a BRIT Award for Best British Female Solo Artist.